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Tortillas · Fats · Dough conditioners

Are tortillas halal?

Corn tortillas are usually corn, water, and lime. Flour tortillas add a fat, and that fat is the question.

Short answer: Corn tortillas are usually corn, water, and lime, and raise nothing. Flour tortillas contain a fat to make them pliable, and that fat is traditionally lard in some recipes and vegetable shortening in most commercial production. Where the label says only shortening or fat, the source needs confirming.

Reviewed by the Halal Scanner editorial team · Updated

Tortillas split cleanly into two products with different answers, and the split follows the grain rather than the brand.

Corn tortillas

A traditional corn tortilla is masa, water, and lime. Lime here means calcium hydroxide, used in nixtamalisation, the process of soaking and cooking the corn that makes it grindable and improves its nutrition. It is a mineral processing agent and not the fruit.

That list raises no source question. Commercial corn tortillas may add preservatives such as propionates and an acidity regulator, which are synthetic or mineral.

Flour tortillas

Flour tortillas need fat to stay soft and foldable, and that fat is the question. Traditional recipes in some regions use lard. Most commercial production uses vegetable shortening or palm oil.

The difficulty is the wording. A label saying vegetable shortening or naming an oil has answered it. A label saying only shortening or fat has not, for the reasons set out in the shortening guide.

Corn or flour is the first question.

Corn tortillas usually avoid the fat question entirely. Flour tortillas need it answered.

Dough conditioners

Commercial flour tortillas often carry the same additives as commercial bread. L-cysteine softens dough and has a well-known source question. E471 and other emulsifiers keep the tortilla pliable. Enzymes may be used in the flour.

The halal bread checker covers these together, since a flour tortilla label reads much like a bread label.

How to check it

  1. Check whether it is corn or flour first.
  2. On flour tortillas, find the fat and see whether the label names it as vegetable.
  3. Look for L-cysteine, emulsifiers, and enzymes.
  4. Ask the manufacturer where the fat term is general rather than specific.

Frequently asked questions

Are tortillas halal?

Corn tortillas usually are, since they contain corn, water, and lime. Flour tortillas contain a fat, which may be vegetable shortening or lard, so the fat needs identifying.

Do tortillas contain lard?

Some traditional recipes use lard, which is pork fat. Most commercial flour tortillas use vegetable shortening, but the label needs to say so rather than being assumed.

What does lime mean on a corn tortilla label?

It refers to calcium hydroxide used in nixtamalisation, the process of soaking and cooking corn that makes masa. It is a mineral processing agent, not the citrus fruit.

Is L-cysteine used in tortillas?

It can be, as a dough conditioner in some commercial flour tortillas. Its source question is the same as in bread.

Are corn tortillas always safer?

For the fat question, corn tortillas usually avoid it entirely. They can still contain preservatives and dough conditioners, so the list is still worth reading.

What about wraps and flatbreads?

Commercial wraps are close to flour tortillas and carry the same questions: the fat, the emulsifier, and any dough conditioner.

Sources